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"There's no doubt they are going to try and pull at it and bend it and rip it off," Watmough said. "We had that last week against the Dogs and we dealt with it then. It's one of those injuries you can't really hide it, so you have to go out there and throw it around the best you can.

"You look in Origin, everyone goes up another notch and everyone tries to rip your head off. I expect everyone and anyone to have a crack. Maybe the trainer might run on and have a crack at some stage. I'm not hiding from the fact it's there. Come and get it, it's there for the taking." The niggle, if you can call it that, is at a completely different level in Origin football to club land. Friends become enemies, and anyone in a different coloured jersey is fair game.

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While Watmough insists he would never intentionally hurt another player, he says he is expecting it from the Maroons on Wednesday.

"It's been around for a long time and I'm not saying I'm the type of player that goes out there to hurt anyone intentionally or anything like that, but in this arena you expect it," Watmough said.

"You go into every tackle expecting your head to get ripped off. I got no doubt that if the arms are strapped up, she's going to get twisted and pulled. There's not much I can do about it."

Skipper Paul Gallen lashed out at Nate Myles last series with a barrage of punches, erupting after years of torture and torment the Queensland forward had inflicted on the Blues.

Blues backrower Greg Bird said he would "expect nothing less" from the Maroons this time around, aware Watmough would receive special attention from Queensland.

"I don't think that it would surprise any of us, nor you guys," Bird said. "Those tactics haven't been something that's been completely foreign to their preparation before. I'd expect nothing less.

"But, mate it's State of Origin. If I came out and had a whinge, it'd be hypocritical because I push the boundaries myself."

While Bird has a few stitches under his eye keeping a wound together, he knows that it's likely to open up again given Queensland's tactics.

"It wouldn't surprise me if it does [open up]," he said. "Hopefully, I can protect my head but it's different to ripping someone's arm and smacking someone's face. I should be right."

Watmough isn't at 100 per cent fitness, but he laughed off claims that he would be a liability. He's adamant that he wouldn't have put his hand up to help NSW end Queensland's eight-year dominance if he would jeopardise all that the Blues have built towards.

"I would not be playing this game if I thought I would be a passenger," Watmough said. "Against the Dogs the other day, it hurt but it was bearable. I think that was the best part of it, just getting your head around that pain and not be timid with it. You know it's going to hurt so you just have to deal with the pain and move on and throw it around the best I can.

"At the start it was painful, but it doesn't flare up after sessions. It's just one of them things that if we didn't train and play every week, it would get better really quickly. Once the swelling and blood went, it was gone. The pain just immediately went. It's a little bit weak but I have to build it up."